Author Archives: Inspiring Innovations, Inc.
TRIPLE III TIME: The Science of NETWORKING
If you looked up the word NETWORKING in an Oxford Dictionary & Wordpower Guide, you would find the following definition:
“Networking-A group of interconnected people…keeping in contact with others to exchange ideas and information.”
The definition and actions that surround the term NETWORKING sound simple and pretty easy to accomplish…right? But for the purpose of continuous professional development this TRIPLE III TIME message will offer a little more in-depth scientific assessment of this “maneuverable” term.
First, I believe to be a high-level NETWORKING agent you must always go beyond your current group of inter-connected people. Stretching yourself to network beyond your comfort zone, is professional development at its finest! Also, with my belief that the need/cause of innovative diversity must always be part of your planning for quality life and work tomorrows…NETWORKING beyond expectations is high value.
Likewise, with the understanding that a good idea can only be good if it is shared…NETWORKING with ideas and information is only logical. But in order to “science it up”…could you categorize your NETWORKING colleagues? Maybe create special section areas like political, private business, education, guest speakers…you get the idea. Or periodically create a NETWORKING challenge/contest about a certain problem issue and who can offer the best solution. Or maybe establishing a specific time every year to have an online moment when all share “The Best Ideas Ever!” for everyone to learn from.
Never underestimate the power of regular, expansive, diverse NETWORKING. It has a wonderful way of expanding your thoughts and idea-generation in the most progressive/positive way.
TRIPLE III TIME: “DELIVERING THE MAIL”
One of the communication problem areas that arise in every organization is deciding: “Who’s job is it?” Different employees who are responsible for different areas of production or service do not always make inter-organization communication a top priority. Often, they follow a mindset that believes:
- “He or she doesn’t need to know everything about this or that.”
- “I think (insert name) or (insert name) will get this message out so let’s wait until they do it.”
- Or simply: “Communication is not in my job description so I’m not going to start doing it now.”
Well, I believe that no matter your job or status in your organization/business, everyone…EVERYONE sometime may have to assume the role of “DELIVERING THE MAIL!”
Attaining and maintaining success in any organization hinges on GREAT internal and external communication. Assuming someone is sharing your new product/service information, changes in customer service timelines, quality control responsibilities, the addition of a new employee or all of the above (and maybe more), is an area of operational responsibility that can and should be progressively shared.
“DELIVERING THE MAIL” from a personal level increases message value, adds authenticity, encourages information sharing and most importantly puts everyone on an equal plane of knowledge and understanding. If everyone is smarter in your world-of-work…every component will be more successful no matter the challenges.
LEARNING MOMENTS Podcast: Professionalizing Your Faceless Image
Inspiring Innovations
LEARNING MOMENTS Podcast
March 2021
Professionalizing Your Faceless Image
Sometimes in our personal and professional race to be the quickest, most hi-tech and 21st Century “cool” individual… we lose track of certain success attainment principles. Specifically, I mean communicating with quality and completeness in our social media world-of-work.
Applying a high-level communication quality control thought process is the message contained in this months Professionalizing Your Faceless Image LEARNING MOMENTS podcast. Think hard as you listen to the discussion and then apply a self-analysis social media communication test. How is your image?
TRIPLE III TIME – QUALITY: My Grandfather’s Method
No matter the product or service, almost all organizations or businesses large and small today have stepped up their focus on QUALITY. Some have a special employee designated exclusively to pursue and enforce QUALITY policies and procedures. Some companies/agencies even have an entire department assigned this very important product/service function.
Well for some reason during my recent consulting learning moments, thoughts about my Grandfather crept into my mind regarding how would he approach the QUALITY issue? Grandpa Nick was a lifetime farmer. No not a big acre/livestock farmer…just a small, proud, solid farmer. And some of my strongest memories of him are seeing him out hoeing a field of beans in almost 100 degree heat in his traditional wide-brim straw hat, dark green pants and long-sleeved shirt (i.e. his uniform). Most vividly I remember stopping to visit on my way home from college and asking: “Grandpa I can’t see one weed in this whole field and didn’t you hoe it once already…what is the point?” His smile was always the same and as he wiped the sweat off his forehead, his answer was both simple and timeless:
“It is the weeds you cannot see that separates a good field of beans from a bad one. If I offered to pay you or Grandma a quarter for every weed you could find…I bet you would find quite a few. And keeping weeds out is not a one day, one time job. You have to make the hoeing out weeds part of your everyday…that’s just good farming. So, when people drive by my fields of beans, they know that my beans will be the best, cleanest beans around…and I’ll make more money too! Now let’s go inside and see if Grandma has a few cookies.”
QUALITY is everyone’s job and you have to take it very personally. Don’t wait for someone to find QUALITY concerns or minimalized products or services in your organization or business. Remember my Grandpa’s words and seek/get out the weeds every day.
TRIPLE III TIME: USA Legislative Priority Registry
TRIPLE III TIME: USA Legislative Priority Registry
I have never really said it before, but I do not/will not ever take for granted my quarterly opportunity to write an article for the American Society for Public Administration PA Times publication. With this opportunity, I share innovative concepts that I believe will help the field of public sector administration and all who work in this field.
This quarter I discuss the creation of a USA Legislative Priority Registry. Yes, I know the title sounds a little awkward, but I believe the principles of this initiative are ideal for our national public sector future.
PA Times: USA Legislative Priority Registry
TRIPLE III TIME: Controlled Diversity
Achieving and maintaining some form of continuous growth is an everyday challenge to entities operating in both the private and public sectors. No matter if you manufacture auto headlights or operate a local pre-school, keeping your current workforce, supporting a solid payroll and having a progressive eye on the future is a situation that all of us need to continually revisit and plan around.
Controlled Diversity is a common sense organizational growth strategy that is appropriate for all to consider. What is Controlled Diversity? Controlled Diversity is a limited plan of action for growth and development that YOU control! Standardly, it requires everyone in your workplace to consider what new products/services are “connectable” to your current assets and employee base for ease of expansion. Also, embracing a Controlled Diversity mentality pushes everyone to continually look at upgrades/modifications to your established products/services that could easily/economically expand your customer bases.
I don’t believe Controlled Diversity is a totally new growth concept…rather it is the INCLUSION element recommended in this TRIPLE III TIME message that makes it more comprehensive, relevant and timely today. By following a future plan of growth that purposely includes everyone may give rise to positive results like:
- Activation of internal trends to stay involved in seeking new markets.
- Diversion of attention away from being labeled as a one product/one service company.
- Inspiration for EVERYONE to take responsibility for EVERYONES collective employment and financial future.
Think about applying Controlled Diversity to your organization…is now a good time?
TRIPLE III TIME: Check Out the Competition
One of the main discussion points with every attempt at spearheading an innovative initiative is to Check Out The Competition! You know “the drill”. Is someone or another company already doing what you are thinking of trying? Is your proposed new product or service already out there and is it successful? Is there a design or option that is very similar to your innovation and therefore would it be best to just replicate their initiative/product/service?
Well let me be clear that when you are considering an alternative innovative strategy…it is very important to Check Out The Competition. However, for this TRIPLE III TIME message, I want you to also consider INNOVATION TRANSFERABILITY. What do I mean? Let’s say if you work in a public service area…don’t be afraid to transfer your service design to one utilized by the fast-food industry (i.e. Meal-Deal model). Or if a unique customer service approach is successful in a community development situation…why not try it in an auto repair setting. Or if a creative social media advertisement design works well for selling the latest salsa recipe…why not try using it to market customized job training in your area?
During my career of pushing public sector innovation every chance I got, applying INNOVATION TRANSFERABILITY has been a solid tool everyday…every time. When you Check Out The Competition and observe a new successful approach to public or private sector product/service delivery…always…ALWAYS consider the potential of INNOVATION TRANSFERABILITY! Great ideas are often not recognized for their easy application in new areas and non-traditional ways. Only when you appropriately Check Out The Competition and apply INNOVATION TRANSFERABILITY…do you see the new opportunities.
LEARNING MOMENTS Podcast: “YOU Really Need to Stay Up With the Times”
As you can tell from this month’s Inspiring Innovations, LEARNING MOMENTS Podcast title… I have a very personal position on this topic. Today so much has changed with our use of technology and it’s application to our worlds-of-work.
No one wants to be told, “YOU Really Need to Stay Up With the Times”… but doing a “self-techno-assessment” of your status is an important action. So enjoy my discussion on this high value issue as it applies to both your personal and professional life.
TRIPLE III TIME: ONLINE PARTICIPATION (What If I Don’t?)
Today within this special TRIPLE III TIME message I want to share with everyone the feelings one has when they are asked a unique professional help question that they would NEVER have seen coming! The question: “Dr. Pichla will you help us with a workshop/training session on how to increase ONLINE PARTICIPATION in our organizations activities? Can you picture THE LOOK!? Me…who avoids online anything and lives to be face-to-face for professional positive energy and performance quality!
Well maybe they asked me specifically for the reasons I just wrote (and maybe it would help me too).
No matter the business or service sector you are working in, the need to be involved in online meetings, education, training, sales, performance measurements or planning must include EVERYONE. I think it is also important to point out that regardless of the impacts the COVID pandemic has made regarding this issue, use of advanced technology for all the daily activities identified above…and in a much bigger way…is/was just around the corner.
Given this unavoidable ONLINE PARTICIPATION phenomenon and in response to the NEVER question, I would build my workshop/training session around answering several very direct “onlining” questions:
- Does participating in an online meeting mean you can pay less attention or ask less questions?
- Does conducting an online training mean as long as you get through your slides…all is good?
- Who is responsible for participation quality in an online world?
- How do you eliminate ONLINE PARTICIPATION “hiding places”?
- Does participation…real participation take on an expectation of leadership?
- Should lack of quality personal ONLINE PARTICIPATION have economic impacts?
- How would it feel to NOT be included in an ONLINE PARTICIPATION business growth session?
- Try to describe “all-in” when you think about ONLINE PARTICIPATION?
- How do you get labeled “the best in the business” in the ONLINE PARTICIPATION category?
- Is it appropriate to pick and choose your attention level regarding ONLINE PARTICIPATION?
We would have fun and together learn a lot?
Bottomline: I would remind them that the best answer to QUALITY/GREAT ONLINE PARTICIPATION for anything is found when you look in the mirror.
TRIPLE III TIME: Do YOU Practice What YOU Preach?
As an everyday leader inside and outside your world of work, setting and being the best professional example you can be is critical. Yes, I know we have talked about example setting in other TRIPLE III TIME messages…but have we ever discussed the importance of looking back to measure our example setting actions? In other words have we ever asked ourselves directly: “Do YOU Practice What YOU Preach?”
You know what I mean! Example “Do YOU Practice What YOU Preach?” issues are easy to identify. Think about:
- Do you avoid doing personal stuff at/during work hours?
- Do you practice your own version of allowances for “comp-time” or follow Agency policy?
- Do you share company/organization information equally among co-workers?
- Do you advance company gossip or never “go there”?
- Do you engage in professional development training/workshops as you prescribe for others?
- Do you invite communication advice and/or ideas from all?
- Do you maintain your work/office space?
- Do you step-up to help others or with special projects?
- Do you allow yourself “dream-time” to be continually creative?
- Do you show up late…leave early or set a positive attendance practice?
These ten (10) examples of “Do YOU Practice What YOU Preach?” are just a short list of the leadership “preachings” that have appeared in TRIPLE III TIME messages over the years. And although I do not support offering repeat messages, I do support regularly assessing personal professional progress (i.e. measuring do I practice what I preach!).
Inspiring Innovations, Inc. 